RAVENNA, Italy: German Marcel Siem claimed his sixth European Tour title with a play-off win at the Italian Open on Sunday.
Siem, 43, overcame a shaky back nine on his final round to hole a birdie putt on the 18th to tie him at 10-under with Northern Ireland’s Tom McKibbin, after having at one point held a three-shot lead over his closest competitor.
On the first play-off hole, McKibbin missed his birdie putt and Siem then made no mistake in sinking his as he claimed a win in just his fourth tournament back after hip surgery in February.
“I love this sport and these moments, I work really hard for them. When you get rewarded like this, it’s a very special moment,” said Siem.
“I think it’s the second oldest trophy on mainland Europe. So I’ve got the French Open and this one now, I’m so proud of that.”
However, the second-place finish does at least have a note of consolation for Northern Irishman McKibbin as it ensured his place at The Open Championship in July.
Siem takes Italian Open golf title in play-off
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Siem takes Italian Open golf title in play-off
Nicklaus surprised by McIlroy skipping his PGA Memorial event
- Nicklaus said he has not heard from McIlroy since the Northern Ireland star captured his fifth major title and first Masters to complete a career Grand Slam
- McIlroy will miss the Memorial for the first time since 2017, instead playing next week’s Canadian Open as his tuneup for the following week’s US Open
WASHINGTON: Jack Nicklaus said Tuesday that he was surprised Masters winner Rory McIlroy did not tell him in advance that he was not playing in this week’s Nicklaus-hosted PGA Memorial tournament.
Nicklaus, an 18-time major winner, predicted McIlroy’s triumph last month at Augusta National after hitting his own ceremonial opening tee shot.
Nicklaus said he has not heard from McIlroy since the Northern Ireland star captured his fifth major title and first Masters to complete a career Grand Slam.
McIlroy will miss the Memorial for the first time since 2017, instead playing next week’s Canadian Open as his tuneup for the following week’s US Open at Oakmont.
“I didn’t have a conversation with him, no,” Nicklaus said, calling that “a little bit” of a surprise.
“It surprised me. But guys have got schedules and got things they do. And I haven’t talked to him for him to tell me why or why not. It’s just his call,” Nicklaus said.
“I made a lot of calls that I had to make when I played to play or not play... sometimes you have to make those calls.
“I don’t hold anything against Rory for that. I know he likes to play so many in a row. He likes to play the week before a US Open. And so that’s what he’s doing.
“I mean, I’m a big Rory fan, I always have been. I’m sure that I will remain that way. I just, I was a little surprised, yes.”
Nicklaus said he had no problem about McIlroy not giving him advance warning about his absence.
“I’m not going to throw Rory under the bus. I like Rory too much,” said Nicklaus. “He’s got to make his own calls on things. Could he have done ‘em differently? Probably. But that’s all right. I probably could have done some of mine differently too. So I’m not complaining about Rory.”
Nicklaus said he sent McIlroy a congratulatory letter shortly after the Masters victory last month.
“I told him I don’t think anybody has won by having four double bogeys,” Nicklaus said. “And I said, ‘But that just showed me how much talent you have to overcome that to win and how you played some unbelievably spectacular shots.
“I was very happy for him. It was a great win.”
Bryson DeChambeau’s wild ride: LIV Golf star gets taste of speed at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
- Majority of golf fans know of his highly publicized exodus to the LIV tour and his tremendous success in the majors, including the US Open, where he will be the defending champion at Oakmont in a few weeks
- But millions of mainstream sports fans, especially in younger demographics, know him just as well — perhaps even better — from his YouTube channel, which boasts nearly 2 million followers
INDIANAPOLIS: Two-time US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau once hit a golf ball 221 mph with his driver.
Exactly as fast as some of the drivers will be going in the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday.
“It would be really cool,” DeChambeau mused Saturday, sitting on a perch that overlooks the front stretch at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, “to hit a ball down the straightaway, see if you could land it in a car going by you.”
Sounds like an interesting challenge.
Then again, DeChambeau is all about the challenges these days.
Sure, the majority of golf fans know of his highly publicized exodus to the LIV tour and his tremendous success in the majors, including the US Open, where he will be the defending champion at Oakmont in a few weeks.
But millions of mainstream sports fans, especially in younger demographics, know him just as well — perhaps even better — from his YouTube channel, which boasts nearly 2 million followers. There, DeChambeau takes on a myriad of challenges: trying to break 50 with partners ranging from fellow LIV star Sergio Garcia to President Donald Trump, attempting to set scoring records at random public courses that he’s never even seen, even playing matches against some top junior players.
The overwhelming success of the channel, coupled with an infectious personality that has been on full display everywhere from the Masters to the PGA Championship last week, has allowed DeChambeau to transcend the sport of golf.
“I saw what Dude Perfect was doing, and then Mr. Beast, and they grew the channels like crazy, and encapsulated a massive audience, and I was like, ‘Man, I’m a sports player. I’m a professional. Like, why can’t I do that?’” DeChambeau said. “So I took it upon myself — I found the right team, got started, and five years later, here we are.”
Right in the middle of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, often referred to as the “Racing Capital of the World.”
DeChambeau was there in part to film a behind-the-scenes documentary for LIV, which has a tournament in August just north of Indianapolis at The Club at Chatham Hills. But he also was taking in the scene on the eve of the biggest single-day sporting event in the world, one that is expected to draw a sellout crowd of 350,000 fans on Sunday.
DeChambeau spent time with Team Penske driver Scott McLaughlin. He launched tee shots with Andretti Global driver Kyle Kirkwood off the Turn 2 terrace onto Brickyard Crossing, the golf course with four holes inside the track. And he climbed into a fire suit for a two-seater ride around the 2.5-mile oval at speeds approaching 180 mph.
“Going around the track was actually insane,” DeChambeau said. “I went off and I mean, it was the craziest. Now I understand racing. Yeah, I get it, like that feeling — a rush. It’s unlike anything you can experience elsewhere. It’s a rollercoaster, but way faster and lower to the ground, and I hated rollercoasters growing up. The G-forces are just incredible.”
Others taking part in his session Saturday included WWE star Titus O’Neil, members of the rock band Creed, Grammy nominee Omar Apollo, Mary and Romain Bonnet from “Selling Sunset” and “Shadowhunters” actress Katherine McNamara.
These are the kinds of things DeChambeau might not have done early in his career. But his YouTube channel, and his success in all avenues of social media, has made him more comfortable in situations that might have pushed his boundaries.
“I’ve kind of gotten out of my box more,” he said. “This is another one where I was like, ‘You just got to go.’ I wasn’t afraid at all. It was just, ‘What am I going to feel like?’ The unknown. And I’m like, ‘I’m not in control of this at all.’
“And then you get to that first corner and you’re like, ‘My goodness, am I in for a treat.’ And feeling that the whole way around, and looking up through the helmet. I can’t imagine what it’s like on race day with 32 others out there.”
DeChambeau’s schedule will keep him from sticking around to see it in person. But he plans to be watching on TV on Sunday.
“Kirkwood, I mean, he’s awesome. I really like him,” DeChambeau said. “And he’s a decent golfer, too, as well.”
Ernie Els, Retief Goosen join South African president in White House meeting with Trump
- Els and Retief Goosen, both Hall of Fame players who have combined to win six US Open titles, were part of the delegation with President Cyril Ramaphosa
- Both were in Washington for the Senior PGA Championship, which starts Thursday at Congressional Country Club
- Trump had already cut all US assistance to South Africa and welcomed several dozen white South African farmers to the US as refugees
WASHINGTON: Ernie Els went to Washington to try to win another senior major and wound up in the White House on Wednesday at the invitation of South Africa’s president, who is pushing back against President Donald Trump’s baseless claims of systematic killing of white farmers in the country.
Els and Retief Goosen, both Hall of Fame players who have combined to win six US Open titles, were part of the delegation with President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Trump had already cut all US assistance to South Africa and welcomed several dozen white South African farmers to the US as refugees as he pressed the case that a “genocide” is underway in the country.
He has launched a series of accusations at South Africa’s Black-led government, claiming it is seizing land from white farmers, enforcing anti-white policies and pursuing an anti-American foreign policy.
Experts in South Africa say there is no evidence of whites being targeted for their race, although farmers of all races are victims of violent home invasions in a country that suffers from a very high crime rate.
Trump, who developed high-end golf courses before entering politics, is at ease among some of the game’s greats from Jack Nicklaus to Tiger Woods. He first played golf with Els, who lives in south Florida, eight years ago.
“When I spoke to you, you said, ‘Yes, come along and bring Gary Player and Ernie Els and Retief Goosen.’ I brought the two of them,” Ramaphosa said.
He said he spoke with Player, who turns 90 in November, and Player said he was getting in on years but wished them luck in the discussion. Trump awarded Player the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Jan. 7, 2021, one day after pro-Trump rioters attacked the White House.
“We’re proud South Africans,” Els said when Trump asked him to speak. “We want to see things get better in our home country. That’s the bottom line. It’s been 35 years since the transition (from apartheid).
“I know there’s a lot of anger through the transition, a lot of stuff happening in apartheid days. We grew up in the apartheid era. But I don’t think two wrongs make a right.”
Els said Nelson Mandela “didn’t come out with hatred” when he was freed after 27 years in prison, instead working to unify South Africa through sport after being elected president in 1994. He cited the World Cup of Rugby in 1995, winning the African Nations in soccer and a few golf majors.
Els won four majors, two each at the US Open and British Open. Goosen, who recovered from being struck by lightning, won two US Opens.
Both were in Washington for the Senior PGA Championship, which starts Thursday at Congressional Country Club across the Potomac River in Bethesda, Maryland.
“What I’m trying to say is this has been a long time coming. That’s why we really wanted to meet you and see our way forward,” Els said. “We still want to see our country flourish. ... There’s a lot of co-existence going on, but we need the US to push this thing through.”
Goosen, whose father was a property developer and a part-time farmer, grew up in what now is Polokwane. He said his brother is still running the farm but “it’s a constant battle with ... them trying to burn the farm down to chase you away.”
“It is a concern to try to make a living as a farmer,” he said.
Els, known as the “Big Easy” for his fluid swing, first played golf with Trump in 2017 during his first term in office.
“We didn’t talk politics because I’m not a man who can cast a vote,” Els told The Associated Press that year. “Whether you agree or not, I felt it was a duty to play with the president when you get the call. It’s basically honoring what the United States has done for me and my family.”
Golf Saudi brings free GoGolf coaching to South Korea at Aramco Korea Championship
- The initiative was run alongside the $2 million Aramco Korea Championship
SEOUL: Golf Saudi’s grassroots coaching initiative, GoGolf, made its international debut in South Korea this month, offering free golf lessons to more than 300 children and Saudi expats during the Aramco Korea Championship.
The initiative was run alongside the $2 million Aramco Korea Championship, part of the new-look PIF Global Series, held at New Korea Country Club from May 9 to 11.
At the tournament, Czech golfer Sara Kouskova led her team to victory, while home favourite Kim Hyo-joo clinched the individual title after three days of play.
Away from the competition, Golf Saudi delivered three days of onsite coaching clinics as part of its GoGolf program, aimed at introducing new players to the game. Sessions took place on the tournament driving range and were led by Golf Saudi coaches and brand ambassadors.
“At Golf Saudi we are passionate about bringing more and more people into the game we love, helping it continue to grow both in Saudi Arabia and around the world,” said Muath Al-Alsheikh, program manager at GoGolf.
“We know that means enabling access and breaking down barriers of entry wherever possible, so that’s why GoGolf offers all Saudis free lessons — and why we were thrilled to host complimentary GoGolf clinics in Seoul.
“It was great to see so many young golfers come and be part of the sessions, including some who were repeat participants — amongst them, several of the Saudi expats. This shows the effectiveness of clinics like these in driving a growing interest in golf,” Al-Alsheikh added.
The GoGolf scheme, launched in Saudi Arabia, offers newcomers three months of free lessons, followed by discounted rounds, coaching, and memberships.
According to Golf Saudi, the program has delivered more than 70,000 free lessons to date, contributing to a 300 percent increase in Saudi golf participation since 2022. About 3,000 Saudi women have taken up the sport since 2021.
In Seoul, participants included local children aged five to eight who were introduced to the game through a partnership with First Tee Korea, a non-profit focused on youth development through golf.
Sessions were also open to Saudi expats living in South Korea, some of whom had previously taken up the sport in the Kingdom.
“I really enjoyed GoGolf,” said Abrar Abdulwahab, one of the approximately 100 Saudis who took part.
“I tried golf last year in Saudi Arabia, and now, trying again here, I’ve definitely noticed an improvement in my skills. When I return to my home, I’ll continue learning more, it’s been a wonderful experience,” he said.
Fellow expat Fahad Al-Qahtani added: “I’m extremely grateful for this program and its organizers. Not only did I take part in the coaching session, but I also learned about the history of golf in Saudi Arabia, which was really interesting.”
Scheffler pulls away to win PGA Championship for 3rd major title
- Scheffler was flawless when he had to be on the back nine of Quail Hollow, Scheffler was flawless when he had to be on the back nine of Quail Hollow
CHARLOTTE, North Carolina: Scottie Scheffler worked harder than he imagined and got the result everyone expected Sunday in the PGA Championship: A most pleasant walk to the 18th green with another major title secure in the hands of golf’s No. 1 player.
Scheffler was flawless when he had to be on the back nine of Quail Hollow, leaving the blunders to Jon Rahm and everyone else trying to catch him on a final day that turned tense until Scheffler pulled away with a steady diet of fairways and greens.
He closed with a bogey he could afford for an even-par 71, giving him a five-shot victory and his third major title. Scheffler became the first player since Seve Ballesteros to win his first three majors by three shots or more.
A snoozer? Not even close. That much was clear when Scheffler raised his arms on the 18th green and then ferociously slammed his cap to the turf.
Scheffler was five shots ahead coming to the last hole when he won his first Masters green jacket in 2022. He was four shots clear of the field when he won at Augusta National last year. And he had a six-shot lead at Quail Hollow.
But this sure didn’t feel like a walk in the park.
He had a five-shot lead standing on the sixth tee. But with a shaky swing that led to two bogeys, and with Rahm making three birdies in a four-hole stretch around the turn — they were tied when Scheffler got to the 10th tee.
It looked like a duel to the finish, with Bryson DeChambeau doing all he could to get in the mix, until Scheffler looked every bit the best in golf. He didn’t miss a shot off the tee or from the fairway until his lead back to four shots.
